Half asleep on my couch, dreaming
about a pebbly beach. My dream guide says something like, "This
is where the first purple cage was built."

palmy (pahl'-mee) adj.
1. flourishing, prosperous 2. triumphant

Dazed and Confused :)

Nostalgia dazed me
but the paddles confused me.
I don't recall them.

Summer Lovers

I didn't think much of this movie when I saw in 1982... but
I just saw it again for the first time since then, and this time
I really liked it. Perhaps it's because I no longer find the
premise (a three-way romance) far-fetched... but also, I've become
fascinated by this film's setting: the Greek island of Santorini.
I recently became convinced (by an A&E special) that this
island's volcanic destruction (circa 1500 BC) was the inspiration
for the myth of Atlantis. So now, I'd like to go there. This
film provides a good vicarious visit.

"Zendo
was the hit of my 11-year-old daughter Jenny's birthday sleepover.
Five 10-12 year old girls played Zendo until too late, and got
up to play before and through breakfast (which is why there is
maple syrup on some of my Icehouse pieces!)." --
Peter Aronson, on the Icehouse mailing list

Origins
is one week closer, but I don't really have any more to say about
it right now than I did last week.
So, instead of another corporate status report, this week we're
going on a virtual walk around our house, to look at all the
cool landscaping and gardening projects Alison
has going on there. The grounds of Wunderland.Earth have come
a long way since Alison took
over, 3 years ago!

Here's Alison, inspecting the flowerbeds in the front yard.
(More specifically, she's examining the 'Stella de oro' day lilies
that she got from her boss at work.)

Alison installed these cute little stone steps on the corner
last summer... this week, she added this terraced herb garden
alongside the steps. (Did you notice the pyramid topiary in the
background?)

As I mentioned a couple of months ago, Alison has begun building
a pond in the backyard. Here you can see her progress in
lining it with stones. (Note to burly locals: plan on helping
move some of those really
big boulders around when next you happen to drop by.)

Last
year, Alison annexed
part of neighbor Dan's yard, to start a vegetable garden
in, and again this year, said garden is providing us with fresh
salad greens and other veggies.

You can see spinach, garlic and snow-peas in the foreground,
a gap with emerging watermelon, cucumber and carrots (covered
with chickenwire to protect from squirrels) and a giant stray
potato plant from last year in the background. Behind that, as
you can see in the closeup ("Alison Loves Her Plants")
are green beans and tomatoes, as well as red peppers, just out
of the picture. Should be quite a haul, if it all produces well!

Check out this fresh garlic she just pulled up!

Have you played any games today?

"If we discovered three drugs today and
they were alcohol, tobacco and marijuana, there isn't an expert
in the country who would recommend that marijuana be the one
that is banned based on individual and societal harm." -- Dr. Patrick Smith, of the Centre for Addiction
and Mental Health, to Canada's Senate Special Committee on Illegal
Drugs, June
7, 2002

"The time lost to jury duty on drug cases
by otherwise productive citizens is just one of a profusion of
hidden costs of the drug war. When you begin to consider these
hidden and ancillary costs, you come to realize the true magnitude
of the waste. The official, on the books cost of this war is
$609 a second. The real cost is much greater and, because the
economic distortions are so large, not really determinable." -- Geoffrey Norman, "Put These Guys in Rehab",
Playboy Magazine, July
2002

"... marihuana is not addictive, not a gateway,
and reports of harms of marihuana are unfounded ... those who
have been smoking marihuana for a period of years showed no mental
or physical deterioration which may be attributed to the drug." -- The Marihuana Problem in the City of New York
(The "LaGuardia Report") (U.S.A., 1944)